Fatal Fire Used Up Pressure In Hoses

Mayor To Ask Engineer To Ensure Hydrants OK


By JIM KEVLIN


Oneonta firefighters brought the 1¾-inch lines to bear early Saturday morning, Feb. 26, on Norma Hutman’s burning home at 540 Main St., 180-220 gallons per minute.
They brought the 2½-inch lines to bear, 300 gallons per minute.
They planned to bring the aerial device into action, 1,000 gallons per minute.
That’s when, to City Fire Chief Patrick Pidgeon’s consternation, is when the water pressure failed.
In this case, that wasn’t a deciding factor.  Hutman, the retired Hartwick College professor, had perished; her body was later located in a second-floor hallway
But after conferring with the fire chief, Mayor Dick Miller said he will ask City Engineer James Hawver to assess the fire-fighting capability of the city’s water system.
“It’s never been brought up as a problem,” said Miller.  “The important thing, there was a plan that was well executed to deal with the situation.”
Once the pressure failed, additional mutual aid tankers were called to the scene from Milford, Schenevus, Wells Bridge, Unadilla, Pindars Corners and Davenport, and a line was run from the nearby Susquehanna River.
The city’s hydrants are in a “looped” system, Pidgeon explained later, which provides optimum water pressure.  Some neighborhoods, however, are outside the loop on a “dead-end” main, he said.
Such was the case with Hutman’s home – it is located between the Catskill Area Hospice Main Street offices and All-Star Auto & Pet Wash, beyond East End Avenue, where the loop turns down toward the river.
The fatal fire was reported at 5:48 a.m., and firefighters arrived to heavy flames throughout the structure.  Capt. Rob LaTourette raised a general-alarm response, which brought all off-duty firemen to the scene.
At that point, mutual aid was requested from West Oneonta and Otego, and FAST teams – Firefighter Assist & Search Teams – arrived from Worcester, Franklin and Sidney.
Main Street remained closed for seven hours as the fire was brought under control and the investigation began.  No cause had been determined by presstime.
Pidgeon, a firefighter since 1980, said low water pressure has not generally been a problem, in his experience.
The looped system allows hydrants every 500 feet in the downtown, and 1,000 feet on the peripheries.